Saturday, July 01, 2006

Near and Far in Aikido

Today's class was fun with some of the Hattiesburg group coming to do Aiki with us at McComb. We worked on hanasu emphasizing the idea of staying away from uke instead of trying to do a technique to uke and ending up shortening the encounter space. Then we worked on the tenkai kote gaeshi variation on hanasu #6. This also allows an extra measure of encounter space for safety. We followed this up by working on chain #3 exploring this idea of close and far with kote gaeshi and wakigatame. For the "cool" technique of the day we did suwari haragatame from kimenokata followed by suwari kotegaeshi from koryudaisan. For another instance of the idea of creating space and staying away from uke we "cooled down" with some Shirai groundwork.

[Update February 2010 - This sounds like it was a cat's breakfast of a class - disorganized and messy, but still fun. I think these days I am better at identifying a common theme running through a givien class and selecting the Cool Ninja Technique of the Day to summarize that theme as we cool down. At least, that's how I like to structure classes these days. We have been working more on rank requirements (kata) and less on chaining for the past year or so. I think this likely goes in waves, back and forth between chaining and variations as opposed to kata and rank requirements.]

Who writes this stuff anyway?

The Super-Important Small Print

The contents of this website are for informational and entertainment purposes only. Do not mistake any of this entertaining information for advice.Martial arts training is a physical contact activity in which there is significant risk to the participants. Practice is frequently very physically strenuous and mentally and emotionally challenging. Participation can result in injuries or damages of any sort, including permanent disability, deformity, or death. Sometimes the risks are not even foreseeable by trained experts.

It would be wise of you to obtain the help of a qualified instructor and have a physician examine you and clear you for strenuous physical contact before you try any of these very dangerous activities - even though physicians and instructors cannot make the activity completely safe for anyone.

You should always inspect the practice area, the equipment, your partners, and yourself for risks before starting, but even that will not save you 100% of the time.

Your participation is voluntary, so if you see something that you think is unsafe you should immediately tell the instructor and decline to participate in that activity. Always work within your own limits.

Amazon Affiliate

Mokuren Dojo is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for this website to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon.